This study was motivated by the desire to understand how to support the development of competent and confident string instrument teachers. This research investigates early-career string instrument teachers' experiences of pre-service tertiary education and induction, and how these experiences impacted early-career string teachers' competence to teach. Further, this inquiry seeks to identify what these teachers believe needs to be done during this initial stage in order, firstly, to better prepare string teachers, and secondly, to foster and sustain the growth in teachers to ensure the availability of competent teachers in the field. Findings of this interpretative phenomenological case study indicated that the provision of formal string teacher preparation courses at the tertiary level, and provision of support from experienced teachers for beginning teachers during the induction phase may contribute to fostering and sustaining the growth in string teachers while ensuring competent teachers in the field. This research has implications for the provision of learning to teach and becoming a teacher that could lead to the development of more competent and skilled teachers.